Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Doug Zaleski of the Muncie Star Press (hat tip: Hoosier Scoop) doesn't seem to have found anyone who has much to say, but does throw out Dan Dakich's name as a possible replacement, although that appears to be pure speculation. He also suggests that former Hoosier and IPFW coach Dane Fife and Purdue assistant Cuonzo Martin "are believed" to covet the job. He seems skeptical on the whether Ray McCallum would want to return and whether he would be welcomed back by all.

The Dakich rumor is fairly amusing. When Dakich was the coach at Bowling Green, he got sideways with Ball State fans while he was defending Billy Lynch, a two sport athlete at BSU who now is an assistant IU football coach and the son of IU head coach Bill Lynch. Lynch apparently attracted some boobirds at Worthen Arena, and here's what Dakich said, preserved in this letter to the editor of the Ball State Daily News:

If Ball State people boo Billy Lynch, then those students who do are dumber thanI thought....Having graduated of the Ivy League of Indiana - Indiana University - I'm not sure how much of a regard we had for the intelligence of Ball State students anyway.

Good points for Knight-speak, negative points for poor syntax in a sentence declaring IU "the Ivy League of Indiana." His position on Ball State students is bolstered by the remainder of the letter, a passionate defense of booing Billy Lynch for his own good. If Dakich gets the job, that will be an interesting press conference.